BBC Business - Peston's Picks

News and Topical Debate from the BBC's Robert Peston

Is the Treasury understating pension liabilities?

Belatedly, I've got round to looking at the Treasury's recent
decision to change how it calculates the necessary contributions
that have to be made to cover the future costs of unfunded public
service pensions.

My interest was sparked by a letter sent to the chancellor by 23
pension experts, organised by the consultant John Ralfe. They argue
that the Treasury has made a mistake in its choice of a new
so-called discount rate.

If you think this is tedious abstruse stuff that has no
relevance to you, think again. The aggregate...

Aircraft carrier costs to rise by at least a billion (again)

The cost of Britain's controversial new aircraft carriers is set
to rise by at least £1bn, and perhaps almost £2bn, as a result of
the government's decision taken last October to make them
compatible with different aircraft than those originally
envisaged.

I have learned that the working assumption of the contractors on
the project, which are BAE Systems, Thales UK and Babcock, is that
the carriers will now cost taxpayers some £7bn in total, compared
with the £5.2bn cost disclosed by...

The corporate story behind GDP challenge

A clutch of big company results today illustrate the big
economic trends in the UK and the world - and also say something
about what the UK economy needs if its insipid recovery is to
become something a bit stronger.

First the good news.

ARM, the world-leading designer of electronic chips for
smartphones, tablets and consumer devices, saw revenues rise 29% in
the first three months of the year and profits increase 35% (to
£51m).

If we had a few more ARMs in this country, we would be agonising
less...

Oligarch says will sell to BP at right price

My colleague Tanya Beckett has conducted a rare and
fascinating interview with Viktor Vekselberg, one of the
billionaire oligarchs who co-own TNK-BP with BP - and who have
fallen out with BP over BP's desire to form a business relationship
with Rosneft, Russia's largest energy group, which would involve BP
and Rosneft taking stakes in each other.

It implies, perhaps for the first time, that there may be a
solution to a dispute that has damaged BP's reputation and
jeopardised...

PPI and banks: Must pay, will pay?

You might have noticed that my mind (and body) have been away
from the day job. But I am so gobsmacked by the comprehensive
defeat of the banks in the PPI case that my fingers felt compelled
to tap on smartphone keys.

What probably matters most is that the judge has ruled against
the banks on all...

Browne not going to Glencore

Varley and Letwin negotiate truce between ministers and banks

The banker trying to negotiate some kind of lasting truce
between the government and the banks is John Varley, the
soon-to-depart chief executive of Barclays - who (by the way) is
the front-runner to be the next chairman of Vodafone, the mobile
phone giant (or so I am told).

Mr Varley's main interlocutor in this dialogue is Oliver Letwin,
the cabinet office minister. And, according to their colleagues,
the talks are about the wider questions of how the reputation of
banks can be...

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